Apple Investigating 'Problem' With Podcasts App That Began April 29 [Now Resolved]

[MacRumors]

Apple's Podcasts platform is experiencing an "outage" for some users, according to the company's system status page.

"Users are experiencing a problem with this service," wrote Apple. "We are investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available." Apple says the undisclosed problem began on April 29.

Only some users are affected by the outage, according to Apple. No further details were provided, and Apple has declined to comment at this time.

April 29 is the same day that MacRumors reported about a variety of complaints that users have made about the Podcasts app since it was redesigned in iOS 14.5, such as skipping during playback, inaccurate timestamps, unresponsive scrolling, episodes failing to sync across devices after being added to a library, and more.

Update: The outage has been marked as resolved on Apple's system status page.

(Thanks, Gustavo!)

Article Link: Apple Investigating 'Problem' With Podcasts App That Began April 29 [Now Resolved]

 

[jas0ntho]

I noticed a few of the podcasts in my shows library were missing until I force quit it and then they showed up again.

 

[||\||]

Good. The app wasn't great before. It's bareley usable garbage now.

 

[deebinem]

It's bareley usable garbage now.

Wait, there's usable garbage?

 

[salz4life]

Has the app EVER not had problems?

 

[shamino]

Glad I decided to switch to third-party podcast apps last week. Hopefully these apps are capable of reading the RSS feeds directly and won't fail when Apple's server goes down. Otherwise I may need to look for some other apps.

Has the app EVER not had problems?

I was very happy with the apps that shipped with iOS 5, 6 and 7. But that was a long long time ago.

 

[whsbuss]

Actually after using the updated podcast app, it’s not that bad. Many try to compare it to Overcast which is a high standard to meet. Although Overcast has some drawbacks as well, like not being able to mark an episode as played and not being synced with other Apple devices.

So far the outage has caused huge delays in episodes being delivered and in some cases not at all.

 

[TEG]

I'm actually missing some podcasts that I'm subscribed to on my Computer, and sync via iTunes, but don't show in my library. And setting Podcasts as the default audio app, has actually made continuing playback after pausing, even worse than before.

 

[goonie4life9]

Not to worry, folks, for the Senior Advisor I spoke to assured me that Apple is on top of this issue. The only troubleshooting that can be done is a full erase and restore of iOS using a computer. Once the restore is complete, the device will need to be set-up as new. If that doesn't resolve the issue, it will need an RTA to Engineering. You'll need to collect logs, with mail logging enabled, and submit that to Engineering. Within 48 hours, Engineering will confirm that this is a duplicate issue. Apple will then instruct you that they will provide no further troubleshooting because Apple's Official Position on the Matter is to keep your devices up to date.

But seriously, it's nice to see Apple formally say this is a known issue. I just hope they disseminate this statement to Apple Support, so a bunch of customers aren't put through the unnecessary hassle of erasing and restoring iOS, which seems to be the SOP for every issue.

 

[xpxp2002]

I'm actually missing some podcasts that I'm subscribed to on my Computer, and sync via iTunes, but don't show in my library. And setting Podcasts as the default audio app, has actually made continuing playback after pausing, even worse than before.

The macOS/iOS sync is completely broken for me and has been since around this date.

Whatever I play or mark played on my phone does not sync back to the Mac, even after waiting several days. Likewise, anything I mark played on Mac doesn't sync over to my iPhone or iPad.

 

[dba415]

The Podcast app is actually terrible from Apple.

 

[Jakuta]

My thoughts on Apple's Podcast app...

 

[BMcCoy]

For a company that was long known for its intuitive UI, I still find it bizarre that the Podcasts app is so bad. It always has been. It’s been tinkered with a lot, but it’s never ever been a good interface. And it’s just podcasts, for goodness sake… it should be bread n butter stuff for Apple’s iOS app team.

 

[trifid]

For a company that was long known for its intuitive UI, I still find it bizarre that the Podcasts app is so bad. It always has been. It’s been tinkered with a lot, but it’s never ever been a good interface. And it’s just podcasts, for goodness sake… it should be bread n butter stuff for Apple’s iOS app team.

Music app on macOS is a disaster in UX as well. Whoever is overseeing that entire division of Music/Podcasts is screwing up horribly.

 

[44267547]

Episodes failing to sync seems to be the primary issue from my standpoint. Either way, the core development for this app needs to be addressed and the draft developer should be demoted whoever approved the final release. There’s a lot of work that needs revamping.

 

[bankshot]

I haven't had any issues with the iOS app, other than the usual horrific user interface and library management. It does play podcasts I'm subscribed to (err, sorry, following), which is the primary feature.

However, HomePod refuses to find and play any podcasts via Siri. I now have to AirPlay from my phone, which kind of defeats the purpose of HomePod having Siri to handle these requests in the first place...

 

[TEG]

Back when Podcasts and Music were in the same app, things seemed to work so much better and more reliable.

 

[RoadWarrior56]

I got used to the Podcast app as it was before the latest "improvement". The organization is now non-intuitive. More importantly, some newly current podcasts are not identified until hours or even days after they have actually been released. I am now looking at other podcast apps.

 

[dannyyankou]

The whole damn app is a problem

 

[Woyly]

They should investigate T-Mobile customers lose cellular data service after 14.5.

 

[amcomis]

The app continues to be a hate crime

 

[gugy]

Yep, that happened to me. New episodes since I updated just doesn't load. Sometimes two or three new episodes show up but most of the time nothing. Buggy for sure.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

The whole app is a nightmare.

 

[deebinem]

I got used to the Podcast app as it was before the latest "improvement". The organization is now non-intuitive. More importantly, some newly current podcasts are not identified until hours or even days after they have actually been released. I am now looking at other podcast apps.

Others have suggested Overcast. Works well for me with a small banner ad on the free version.

 

[xxray]

Apple is so great at what they do except for their services apps. Apple Podcasts, Music, TV+ - all pretty bad. Unintuitive, clunky, messy, buggy, slow.